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The plot thickens with ACT School closures

Today I was informed that due to school closures, one ACT K-10 school was overrun with applications. 200 students were effectivel “turned away” due to being “out of area”.

Yesterday reps from the ACT Dept of Education went to the school (think diplomat) to discuss expanding the school i.e. new buildings and/or portables, to effectively take on those 200 students and possibly more.

My question is, if they have room to build more buildings and add portables, then they obviously have enough money to keep schools open – well some at least.

Umm some method in their madness – get the teachers offside, no payrise – get the parents offside, close 39 schools – 90+ vr’s (more like ir’s) for non teaching staff members at ACT Dept of Education, leaves Dept in more of mess than it was previously = everyone concerned is fighting their own little battles rather than having a united front against tweedle dee and tweedle dumb

I suspect that Mr Barr (whom, I agree, is the sacrificial lamb in the scenario) actually believes the ideological premise behind the decision to close the schools, clearly flawed though it is. The real villain is keeping his hands whiter than white on this one.

It would take a lot of gumption for Barr to do a Mal Meninga. However, he would retain a shred of cred then, and could stand as an Indie. Mr Barr, the gauntlet is thrown.

If I could access InDEX, Dept’s internal website, I’d take a look at the Principal “news” and it would most likely be there. Seeing as I can’t (as I am on LWOP) I might try to get a friend to cut and paste to me in an e-mail.

miz, how do you know that the “perfectly good school nearby that could stay open” actually is nearby at all? If that were the case, wouldn’t it be more politically expedient to indeed keep that school open? Isn’t it more likely that the schools that are being closed are in fact in the areas with a relative lack of students? Perhaps Nyssa could tell us all *which* school this is, it’s hardly a matter of national security.